Imperfect
by TheNewMissNoOne
Summary: Because that's all she will ever be: Imperfect. The mirror is a taunting device made to fool you. And to Tina, she was a fool.


_Okay, so I don't know why I've been going haywire with writing fan fiction lately, but I'm making the best of it before school starts and I might be going on hiatus. Please enjoy this story!_

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**Imperfect**

Summary: Because that's all she will ever be: Imperfect. The mirror is a taunting device made to fool you. And to Tina, she was a fool.

The mirror is a taunting device made to fool you into becoming naïve as to your physical appearance. It feeds you with prim details of your features. And if you don't like what you see, you break down into tiny little crumbs—maybe not literally, but emotionally. The mirror is a device made to fool you into thinking that you are filled with beauty, or in some occasions, filled with flaws. And as Tina Cohen-Chang stared at her reflection in the girls' bathroom mirror, she couldn't help but crumble at what she saw.

She hated everything about her. She wasn't beautiful or attractive in the least. She faked a stutter, for crying out loud! She hated her hair. It was too dark for her liking, which was why she added violent purple streaks on it to make it a little bit better, not that it worked. Her eyes were tiny, so she couldn't have much effect on other people by simply batting her eyelashes. She didn't have curves. Her chest was too small. Her butt was too big. She was fat. And she tried to look skinnier by wearing black—and lots of it. Her voice was tiny, not alluring or confident as the other women in her school. She'd die to have any other voice—even Rachel's. And you know that woman never stops talking.

Tina snuck a glance at the girls standing beside her, applying make up on their faces, talking about what to do for tomorrow's basketball game since the McKinley High was up for the championship, thanks to a certain boy named Finn Hudson.

She observed them from the way Santana applied mascara on her lashes and the way Brittany applied lip gloss on her lips, to the way they put their hands on their hips and manage to swing it from side to side as they walk in slow motion, people gawking at them along the way. And also the way they admired themselves while staring in the mirror, something Tina can never be able to do for some reason.

Tina sighed sadly and walked out of the restroom. She was wallowing in self-pity once again. She leaned against her locker and stared at the other girls in the hallway. Santana walked proudly. Brittany looked irresistible. Rachel looked confident in her strides. Quinn kept on a sweet smile, looking like a goddess even with her baby bump. And Mercedes bravely strutted down the halls, looking as fashionable as she can be.

Proud, irresistible, confident, sweet, and brave. All the words that Tina was not. Instead she was ugly, unappealing, shy, and afraid—afraid of everything that would resemble herself. She just didn't want the way she was.

Every single day, Tina endured this. She'd sometimes sneak in the gym to catch a glimpse of the cheerios' rehearsal, secretly wishing that she were like them. She wished to be prettier, skinnier, and more attractive. She hated that feeling more than anything else in the world, but she knew very well that it was true. She was imperfect, filled with disgusting flaws and that's why her first kiss was right before she broke her best friend's heart. She was forgiven, of course, but not instantly. They decided to go back to phase one and forget that the stupid disaster date ever happened. Tina knew that Artie could do better anyways. Sure he was in a wheelchair, but he was smart and very charming. He's even good-looking if you look past the chair—something only Tina can do, according to him. He couldn't possibly want Tina Cohen-Chang out of all the girls he could have.

Her mom told her she was pretty, and she used to believe it. Long, long ago. Back when she and all of her classmates would only care about gold star stickers on their test papers instead of a pair of long, perfectly tanned legs. But her mom was still her best friend. And she always told Tina that when you're feeling angry, write it on something and that would make you feel better. It's always worked for Tina. She was thankful for her mom. Writing down her feelings can relieve the pain—momentarily. Still, it was a much better option than cutting her wrists, which she'd tried once but completely regretted it once her mom walked in on her.

During glee club meetings, when all the focus would be on Rachel's singing or Mr. Schuester's amusing fights with Cheerios coach Ms. Sue Sylvester or a really wicked dance move of Mike's, she would grab a piece of pen and paper and jot down everything she feels. And when everyone else has left, she would stay behind, crumple the paper, and rip it to pieces, then throw it out the window. How she wished that shoving your bad feelings away was just as easy as tossing them out of the window...

And that's what she did this day. Rachel was singing her solo and Tina grabbed a piece of paper and pen and quickly jotted down how she feels.

_Ten Things I Hate About Myself_

_1. My hair_

_2. My eyes_

_3. My weight_

_4. I was stupid enough as to fake a stutter_

_5. My nose_

_6. My height_

_7. My not-so-smooth man-hands_

_8. That I'm not girly_

_9. The size of my feet_

_10. I lied to my best friend_

"Hey, Tee, what'cha got there?" a voice interrupted her musing as she was getting ready to fold the paper before anyone else sees it.

"N-nothing, Artie, just some random ramblings," she smiled a smile _too _wide at him. She quickly shoved the paper in her front jacket pocket. Artie just shrugged and went back to what Mr. Schue was saying.

Tina breathed a sigh of relief. The last thing she wanted was for anyone to find out about her self-bashing. It was completely foolish.

After Glee club, she stayed behind just like she'd planned and was ready to rip the paper to pieces when a strong wind blew from the window, snatching it away from her hands. It flew to the floor, on the space beside the door, but before she got to grab it, a hand shot out before she could and she looked up to see none other than Artie Abrams.

"Give it to me!" Tina shouted furiously, snatching the paper from his hand, tearing it in half.

"Geez, Tina, no need to go all mad at me," Artie defended himself, giving back the other half to her.

"Sorry," Tina muttered incoherently about other words as she ripped the paper to shreds and threw them out the window. Tina smiled a little as the pieces flew in front of her, getting swept by the wind and carrying them away from her sight.

"Tina?" Artie asked, uncertain.

"Oh, you're still here?" she acknowledged him, facing him and giving him a sad smile.

"Yeah," and after a few seconds of silence, he asked, "I hope you don't mind if I ask why it's so important to you."

Tina heaved a huge sigh. Slowly, she looked into his eyes and spoke softly. "My mother once told me that if I'm feeling bad, I should write it down and tear the paper and I'd feel a lot better,"

Artie could only gape at her. He'd rather not admit it, but he couldn't stand the thought of Tina being in pain.

"You do know that if you're feeling bad, I'm here, right?" he asked her.

"That's the point!" Tina groaned. "You were always a shoulder to cry on, that's why you couldn't stand me!" She paced around the room, throwing her arms up in the air.

"What do you mean?" he asked, confused.

"You very well know what I mean. All these years, I randomly just yell at you, cry in front of you, and be so complicated. You're just too nice to actually tell me that I'm becoming a nuisance to you! That you'd much rather hang out with anyone else! Someone who's skinnier, and prettier, and won't do to you what I've been doing to you for the past five years!" she finally finished, breathing deeply, she sat on the ground and cried. "You see? I'm doing it again!"

"Tee, is that what this is about? You think you haven't been a good friend to me? Because I can prove you wrong—"

"No! It's not about that!" Tina shook her head and looked at him, "Can't you see? It's not about being a good enough friend to you, it's about not being good enough for you! Don't you get it?"

Artie contemplated this for a few moments until it all clicked.

"I think you need some time alone," he said.

"Yeah," Tina agreed.

Artie began to roll away, but was stopped by her voice calling his name.

"What?" he asked.

"I'm really, _really_ sorry,"

"Apology accepted," he smiled comfortingly.

"Also, I would really appreciate it if this never happened," she begged him with her eyes.

Artie nodded and smiled. He rolled away and back to his home.

The next day, Tina found herself in the same disposition again. She was unworthy of any guy's attention, which was why no guy would even think about asking her on a date for tonight's game. Everyone was so pumped up for the basketball game. Everyone had a special someone to be pumped up with. Everyone except her.

All the girls from glee club found themselves in the girls' bathroom and started talking all at once.

"This night's gonna be a blast," Santana said, flipping her hair, "McKinley's gonna nail this game, and I'll be throwing a victory party over at my house. There's gonna be Vodkaaaaa," she chimed as she high-fived her best-friend-but could-be-more, Brittany.

"I know for a fact that Finn's gonna do good tonight. I helped him work out," Rachel said, beaming with all her might.

"Puh-lease," Santana retorted, "Finn might be captain, but it's so obvious that it's because of Puck that they're gonna win,"

Rachel glared at the Latina, but before she could come up with a come back, Mercedes spoke.

"Girls, you need to get it together. There's no use fighting over this! Everybody knows that Finn and Puck are an even match!"

With that, Santana and Rachel broke their gazes away from each other and into the deceiving device known as the mirror.

"That's much better. The last thing I need is for your loud voices to shock me and ruin the eyeliner I'm applying," Quinn shot in.

"Did you know that you can play a slice of baloney in a DVD player?" Brittany said suddenly, causing the other girls to stare at her.

Throughout this exchange, Tina had remained silent. She just couldn't relate to anything that they were talking about. She wasn't like them. She felt so out of place, that she stuck out like a sore thumb. She was even surprised when Quinn talked to her.

"So, Tina, you coming to tonight's game?"

Tina stared at Quinn's sweet face for a moment, envying her looks, before answering. "Maybe not. I have no reason to. I don't like basketball, and I most certainly don't have a date,"

Santana turned to face her, "Wait, I thought you were with wheelchair kid?"

"Uh... yeah, that didn't really work out..." she admitted shyly, avoiding everyone's gaze.

Quinn nodded in understanding. "I'm really sorry, Tina. I shouldn't have brought it up,"

"N-no, it's okay, really. It was my fault that it didn't work anyway. I deserve all the punishment I can get."

At this statement, no one seemed to talk. With each second, the awkward tension seemed to grow thicker until Tina couldn't bear it any longer.

"I-I have to g-go," she stammered helplessly and walked out of the room.

Once again, she pitied herself. Heck, she pitied herself even more _because_ she pitied herself. That kind of stuff only happens in movies, right?

She walked down to her locker and kicked it. Nobody seemed to notice her as she banged her head on the hard surface and muttered to herself.

_"Couldn't be pretty, couldn't be skinny, couldn't be confident..."_

She sighed and leaned her head on her locker door. Her thoughts were interrupted, though, when someone cleared their throat.

"Oh, hey Artie," she said to him and faced him. She plastered on a fake smile. He shouldn't see her like this, feeling so down and all...

"Hey, Tee," he smiled up at her, "I was wondering... would you go to tonight's game... like, with me?" his voice cracked at the end, revealing how nervous he was. His cheeks tinted pink as she gaped at him. She seemed to shake herself back to reality though.

"Are you sure? I mean, you couldn't ask someone who's more... I don't know, appealing?"

Artie just smiled slyly and said, "I don't know if you've noticed this before, but I don't settle for second best."

At this, Tina smiled her first genuine smile in five years. Artie can really make her feel better about herself, there was no doubt about it. She felt like she was in cloud nine at the moment. He was so sweet…

And before she could even think about it, she had grabbed his face and crashed her lips to his. However, she was startled and began to pull away immediately, her face going fire truck red.

"S-s-sorry," she stuttered out.

Artie couldn't help himself. He laughed.

"It is not funny!" Tina exclaimed, putting her hands on her hips.

"S-sorry, T-tee!" he choked out between laughs, "It's just that... you look really funny when you're mad. Your eyes get sparkly and your hair waves down to tickle my nose. I dunno, I find it... alluring, I guess," Artie blushed at his weak attempt in flirting.

Tina didn't seem to notice though, as her smile came back to her face, "You really think I'm alluring?"

"No," Artie said, keeping a serious face. Tina's smile faltered.

"I think you're perfect," he finished and leaned up a little to plant a chaste kiss on her lips.

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**_I know, cheesy ending... But PLEASE review! Everyone who reviews gets a cyber hug from Artie! Haha :))_


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